(Reuters) – Boeing Co (BA.N) has sketched out plans to develop an all-new aircraft, with new engines and likely a composite structure, to replace its 737 MAX jetliner by 2030, Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney said on Wednesday.

The airplane will be slightly larger than the 737 but its shape won’t change dramatically from the current fuselage. The push for the new aircraft was being driven by competition from China and elsewhere, he said at an innovation summit.

“By 2030 we will have a new airplane,” he said, adding there’s “a good chance it will be a composite airplane.”

“It will be slightly bigger, there will be new engines. The current look of the planes (shape) won’t change dramatically,” McNerney said.

Chinese planemaker COMAC is developing the C919 jet to compete with the 737 and the Airbus (AIR.PA) A320. The jet has been delayed until end-2015.

Other competitors include Russia’s MS-21 and the slightly smaller Bombardier (BBDb.TO) CSeries from Canada.

McNerney said an all-new 737 MAX replacement was needed “because the new entrants would do something like MAX.”

Boeing has nearly 100 years of aircraft experience and “we cannot give up that advantage because competing on costs alone would be difficult,” he said. “Innovation is the only answer, there’s no easy way around.”

The Boeing 737 and competing Airbus A320, seating 150-160 people in standard layouts, are the world’s most popular jets and the backbone of short-haul fleets worldwide.

Boeing had considered designing a completely new “clean-sheet” design as a successor to the 737 at the start of the decade but abandoned the plan and came up with a revamped version of the 737 known as the MAX after Airbus scored market success with an upgraded version of its own A320.

Having invested in an upgrade capable of providing around 15 percent fuel savings thanks to new engines, both companies had previously indicated they would not aim for a complete redesign before 2030.

But McNerney’s comments provide further detail to the thinking of the Chicago-based aerospace and defense giant.

SOURCE REUTERS, Read more..